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Lux Capital
Lux Capital is a New York and Menlo Park-based deep-tech VC founded 2000 by Peter Hébert, Josh Wolfe and Robert Paull, with $7B AUM across 40+ professionals and eight flagship funds plus a dedicated…
Investment thesis
Lux Capital is a New York and Menlo Park-based deep-tech VC founded 2000 by Peter Hébert, Josh Wolfe and Robert Paull, with $7B AUM across 40+ professionals and eight flagship funds plus a dedicated Scientific Instruments Fund. Lux Ventures VIII ($1.15B, 2022 vintage). Invests seed to growth across frontier science: AI, bio, defense, space, robotics, materials. Cheques $1-30M.
Quantum exposure: early institutional backer of Rigetti Computing (superconducting, Series A 2016 and follow-ons; public 2022 via SPAC). Firm maintains broader frontier-computing thesis with quantum as one pillar alongside neuromorphic (Mythic, a DCVC overlap), photonic AI chips, and exotic computing architectures.
Value-add: structural dual-use / defense orientation (backed Anduril, Shield AI, Saildrone); strong DOE, DARPA and IC relationships, relevant for quantum founders seeking non-dilutive federal capital; Josh Wolfe's strong narrative platform drives portfolio visibility.
Differentiated as the leading US frontier-computing brand investor with a Rigetti anchor and proven dual-use defense-tech scaling playbook — though quantum remains a concentrated rather than core allocation.
Anti-thesis
The patterns that trigger a fast no with this fund.
- Lux backs weird science with national security upside: if your quantum play has no clear defense, intelligence, or critical-infrastructure angle, the thesis weakens
- They have already committed deeply to PsiQuantum's photonic fault-tolerant path: a competing modality must explain why it is not duplicative or strictly inferior in their portfolio context
- Lux prizes contrarian, hard-to-replicate physics and IP moats: pure software, middleware, or quantum-inspired classical plays rarely fit unless tied to a hardware flywheel
- Josh Wolfe is skeptical of hype cycles and NISQ-era revenue theater: demo-grade fidelity numbers without a credible scaling roadmap to logical qubits will be punished
- Capital intensity is acceptable but only with a path to strategic moats (gov contracts, fab partnerships, rare talent): a lean SaaS-style burn profile actually undercuts the thesis
Notable quantum portfolio
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